Since we talked the other day about how Descartes, by believing in God, is actually contradicting himself, is it possible for "God" to be perhaps Mother Nature. In part 5 he talks about how "God" creates chaos and imposes upon it, Laws, that shall govern the way everything works. Eventually the chaotic matter will sort itself out to how it is today. Perhaps what is included in that original chaos, isn't animals, but instead the very basic forms of life. And the laws are actually, say ... stuff like survival of the fittest, or the animals that deal with the selective pressures of the environment are the ones that shall live long enough to reproduce. Although I know about part 5 the best, other ideas in other parts could contradict what I am saying, however, it would be understandable for him to use "God" to explain mother nature just so he didn't piss anyone off at the church.
(I use mother nature for lack of a better word to describe just the basic principles of Evolution. But I think you get what I mean. I don't believe there is actually some woman out there controlling everything, like how people believed God did at that time.)
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good--the big question with laws is (from a religious point of view), if there are laws of nature, then what need is there for God? and while the religious answer might be that God sets the laws in motion, or something like that, perhaps there are meta-laws that govern any natural arrangement of molecules. if there are laws like that in galaxies far, far away, then our little speck of matter isn't so strange and special...
Thats kind of what I mean, perhaps he believes there really is no God. All he believes in are the laws of nature. I know he stresses that first and foremost God is most important to him, but like we talked about, he could just be saying that to avoid persecution. Its probably far fetched to think that this was exactly what he was thinking, but to me it makes the most sense. Even if he wasn't thinking this, you can tell some of writing suggests that he has some of these ideas in his head. It all comes down to whether or not he believes in God.
The fact that Descartes believes in God or does not believe in God is hidden very well throughout this section. This thing called "mother nature" could very well be it. Maybe God started to get the ball rolling and let mother nature take over from there. This is a very good perspective on this section. You actually got me thinking that this is true, but I just feel that Descartes is really a non-believer and is trying to cover everything up so the chuch doesnt come after him.
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